


watch it spin

by punknouis



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra (She-Ra) Redemption, Catra Goes to Therapy (She-Ra), Developing Friendships, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Let Catra (She-Ra) Say Fuck, Marijuana, Minor Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Post-Canon, Recreational Drug Use, Smoking, i very much believe that perfuma would worm her way into catra's heart, kind of, no beta we die like lesbians, this is a FRIENDSHIP fic!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27802753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punknouis/pseuds/punknouis
Summary: The One Where Catra and Perfuma Get High Together. That's it, that's the fic!
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Perfuma (She-Ra), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	watch it spin

**Author's Note:**

> Totally got this idea from trickypinetree on tumblr's art, which you can see HERE. It was just toooooo good and hilarious for me to not write something about it! Not my best work but lots of fun.
> 
> After rewatching Season 5 of SPOP, I can very much see Perfuma and Catra having a really sweet friendship post-canon. I think Perfuma would be so supportive and encouraging of Catra's redemption and would really try and help her heal to become a better person, and also wouldn't take her bullshit! I also think Perfuma has a super silly side that Catra would pretend to find annoying at first (because she thinks she's too cool) but then they would have just a blast messing around together! In my head, this is something that would help them bond and help Catra feel more comfortable opening up around Perfuma. Even though it might not seem like it, meditation/guided meditation (which is often used in therapy) can make you feel very vulnerable, because you have to just BE with yourself...and we know how Catra feels about that. But I'm interested in seeing how Perfuma helps Catra do that by showing her her own vulnerable side!
> 
> Also, title is from Let's Get High and Watch Planet Earth by Watsky (pretty fitting for this lmao).

The view from Perfuma’s room in Bright Moon is spectacular. Vines wrap around the balcony's bars and spread across the floor, small pink and orange flowers littered throughout. The magenta mountains rise and fall against the royal purple and blue sky. She'd never admit it, but the view still takes Catra's breath away.

“Damn Perfuma, how’d you get the nicest view? You don’t even live here.” Catra teases as she plops down next to where the princess is sitting, her legs crossed and her eyes closed.

The princess doesn’t even open her eyes when she responds, “Glimmer is a very generous friend, she knows I like a nice view to meditate in front of.”

“But your eyes are closed…?” Catra narrows her own eyes as she looks at Perfuma curiously. That causes the princess to open her eyes. She looks over at the magicat with a smile.

“I can still see the beauty of the planet, even with my eyes closed. I can feel it.”

Catra rolls her eyes half-heartedly. She was starting to get used to the princess' weird quirks .

She wraps her arms around knees a little tighter and rubs her cheek against her hoodie. She takes a deep breath. It smells like Adora.

“Are we gonna do this thing or not?”

Catra really, really did not want to do this. She _really, really_ didn’t. But when Adora found out Perfuma had offered to help Catra work through some of her stuff, she made Catra promise to at least give it a chance.

Stupid Adora. Stupid promises.

Perfuma squeezes her hands together in front of her chest, “I’m so excited that you decided to give meditation a try!”

“Yeah, yeah let’s just get this over with,” Catra huffs. “What do I need to do?”

“Alright, put your hands on your knees. You want to feel grounded. Rooted into the ground. Like a strong, tall tree.” Catra did as she was told. “But you also want to feel comfortable, so move or sit however you need to get there. I can give you a pillow to sit on if you’d like? Or maybe a blanket?”

Catra shook her head, avoiding eye contact as she shifted her legs into a position similar to Perfuma’s. She was used to a little discomfort, it’s not like she grew up in the cushiest of places.

“Alright, now close your eyes…”

* * *

Fifteen minutes later and Catra is convinced this is a scam.

“Perfuma, how am I supposed to concentrate on my breathing and 'silencing my mind' when you won’t stop talking?” She has been working really hard to work on her patience and controlling her tone, but she can’t help the way her words come out like a snarl.

“Well it is a guided meditation...,” Catra opens her eyes at the sound of Perfuma’s sigh, “But you’re right. It seems like you’re having trouble letting yourself relax. Which is normal for people with a history of trauma, so -”

“I don’t have trauma!” Catra interrupts, her voice rising in pitch without even meaning to. She still has some work to do on controlling her voice, clearly.

Perfuma, ever the patient one, simply quirks an eyebrow.

“Okay maybe I do!” Catra throws her hand in the air in resignation.

“It’s alright, we can’t tackle everything in a day!” Perfuma says optimistically as she rises to her feet. “But wait right here, I have an idea.”

She breezes into her room, her dress flowing behind her, before Catra can ask her what that idea might be. Catra follows her with her eyes, and then looks back out at the landscape before her. It’s a beautiful night. It’s cool, with a faint breeze. Catra pulls her hood up over her ears, and closes her eyes. The breeze on her face reminds of her nights in the Fright Zone when she would sneak out with Adora to their secret spot. It felt like they were on top of the world back then. Sometimes she still misses that feeling, when she was so sure of everything. Even though the war is over, she still feels unsure of her place here. She idly wonders what Adora’s doing right now.

Perfuma comes out soon after that with a small bag in her hands. She gives it a little shake in Catra’s direction and goes back to her previous seat.

“What is that?”

Perfuma pulls out the contents of the bag. There are several small brown pieces of what Catra thinks look like paper, but thinner.

“You’ll see…” Perfuma says, with a sly smile that Catra’s never seen before. She’s not sure how to feel about it.

Her brows pull together as she watches the princess choose one paper and put the rest away. She bends the paper in between her index finger and her thumb and holds her other hand above it. A warm yellow light flashes briefly, and in its place there is a heap of some sort of brown and green…stuff.

Catra’s nose scrunches up as a strong scent permeates her senses.

"Okay now what the fuck is that?”

“This,” Perfuma says triumphantly, “is called marijuana. Or weed, ganja, laughing grass, reefer, the devil’s lettuce,” She wiggles her eyebrows at Catra, smiling at herself, “There’s a lot of different names for it.”

“It’s a plant.”

“Yes. It has many medicinal and healing properties! It does wonders for calming the body and the mind.”

“It smells.” Catra continues flatly.

Perfuma lets out a laugh, “It does, doesn’t it?” She starts to fold the paper over, rolling it between her fingers until the marijuana it looks like a tube. Catra watches in awe.

“So...what are you doing with it?” Catra asks hesitantly.

Perfuma lifts the object to her mouth and runs her tongue along the edge of the paper that has yet to be rolled. Catra makes a face in disgust. Perfuma pushes the edge down so it is flat.

“Rolling the blunt,” Perfuma says matter-of-factly.

“Hold this,” she places it in Catra’s open, waiting hand. Catra freezes. It's a delicate thing, and Catra is afraid to break it.

Perfuma begins to mutter to herself as she looks around the balcony, leaning onto her hands and knees to look for something among the vines that litter the floor.

“Aha!” She grabs a small, teal dish that Catra hadn’t noticed before and sits back down next to Catra, closer than before. A box of matches lay in the dish. Perfuma takes one out and strikes it and then grabs the object out of Catra’s hand.

Subconsciously, Catra leans away from the flame. Perfuma holds the match under the object and moves it back and forth against its length. She shakes the match to put out the flame.

“Hey, you haven’t answered my question.” Catra suddenly feels nervous and annoying, like a child bothering an adult with too many questions. She doesn’t like to not know things. She doesn’t like to feel out of her element. But this whole 'being good' thing has been making her feel that way constantly. She still isn’t used to the feeling.

“Oh! Sorry! I was just focused. Even the ritual of preparing to smoke is calming for me!”

“Smoke? You are going to smoke this?” Catra asks incredulously.

Perfuma nods, “We are going to smoke this, my dear friend. To help you relax!”

Catra pauses, “I don’t...I don’t know, Perfuma.” She had never heard of this before. Every day she was shocked with how much The Horde hid from them.

“How about you just watch me first? We can take it slow. And if you decide you don’t want to or you don’t like it, you don’t need to do it! But I really do think it will help release some tension. Plus,” she giggles, “It’s kind of fun!”

Catra hums, slightly reassured by the princess’ patience but still skeptical, and watches Perfuma light another match. She uses the flame at only one end of the..what did she call it? A blunt? The faintest plume of smoke rises as the end burns. Perfuma holds the blunt up to her lips and inhales. She holds her breath for a moment, and when she releases it a stream of smoke blows out. She muffles a cough behind her hand and then smiles at Catra.

“See? Nothing to it.”

Perfuma doesn’t even offer the blunt to Catra, just holds it steady in her long fingers and looks out over the balcony.

When she continues, her tone is much more serious. “Sometimes when I’m trying to go to sleep, my mind decides it’s time to go into overdrive. This,” she wiggles the blunt slightly in between her fingers, “just helps keep it quiet. So I can feel settled enough to sleep.” Perfuma takes another inhale from the blunt.

“I know what you mean,” Catra says quietly, partly hoping. “That happens to me too.” She pulls the sleeves of her hoodie down over her hands a little more. She expects the princess to press her, but thankfully she doesn't.

Catra sighs. This is probably a more fun option than meditating all night. And if Perfuma, a flower princess, can do it, so can she.

“Alright, give me that.”

* * *

“Plumerians eat this stuff?!” Catra’s jaw drops. Her mind reels as with this shocking information. “I knew you guys ate some weird shit, but this cannot taste good…”

The words are like syrup in her mouth, dripping out slowly. Much slower than usual. She lifts the blunt to her lips and takes another hit. Her throat burns slightly from the coughing fit she had earlier, but now she exhales the smoke smoothly.

Perfuma laughs loudly and shakes her head. “No silly,” she swats at Catra’s arm and Catra nudges her back with her elbow. “We bake it into things like...cakes and cookies and whatnot. Yummy stuff.”

“Oh that sounds good,” Catra agrees. Cookies would be so good right now. Catra wonders if the kitchen is still open. How mad Glimmer would be if she went in and stole some cookies?

“Yeah, it’s definitely different than smoking. But some people prefer it.” Perfuma shrugs, and takes the blunt back from Catra.

Catra can’t help the smile on her face. She doesn’t even know what she is smiling about, but she doesn’t care. It just feels good to feel so light. There’s a warmth in her chest that spreads out to her limbs. She pulls the strings on her hoodie and it tightens a little around her face. She giggles as she imagines how ridiculous she probably looks right now curled up smoking next to Flower Girl late at night.

“I wonder if Adora would like this,” Catra hears herself say, but it sounds far away. Like she’s hearing a recording of herself.

Now Perfuma is the one smiling. “She might.”

Catra ignores her words when she notices that her eyes are bloodshot.

“Wait, do my eyes look like yours?”

She shoves her face close to Perfuma’s and opens her eyes as wide as she can. Perfuma narrows her eyes as she looks into Catra’s.

“No,” she says finally, firmly.

“Oh thank God,” Catra mumbles to herself. She leans her head back against the wall and looks up at the sky. Dreamily, she continues, “I’m glad the universe didn’t explode.”

“Catra! Your love...saved the universe.” Perfuma says with wonder in her voice.

“Yeah,” is all Catra can reply. The shock still hasn’t worn off, even after all these months. She wonders if it ever will. Love. She’s in love. And Adora loves her back. They’re together! In love, together. The thought overwhelms Catra, in the best way.

“So maybe if you guys stopped loving each other, we’d all die.”

Perfuma says it with such casualty, like it’s a fact and not just a fleeting query, that its like someone dumped a bucket of cold water on Catra's head.

“Wha--?” Catra’s voice dies out before she can even complete the short question. Stop loving Adora? That would never happen. “Do you really think…”

Her eyes widen at the images her brain conjures up of Etheria blowing up in a giant cloud of smoke.

Perfuma drops the blunt in the tray and turns towards Catra abruptly. She drops her hands on the magicats shoulders, and they feel so heavy.

“Save us Catra!” Her eyes are probably wider than Catra’s, her voice urgent. “Make love to her every night!”

“Okay.” Catra nods solemnly.

If that’s all it takes to keep everyone from dying, she thinks she can manage that.

The girls look at each other for another brief moment before they both erupt in a fit of obnoxious giggles. Tears well in Catra’s eyes and she clutches her stomach as she tries to get a handle on herself, the concept now so ridiculous and Perfuma’s face so exaggerated that it is simply the funniest thing she has ever heard in her life.

When they both finally settle down, Catra stretches her arms above her head and wiggles side to side. She purrs to herself and then wraps her arms around herself again. Her tail flicks back and forth. She hasn’t felt this at ease in a long time.

"It's nice to feel like we cab joke about everything that's happened now," Perfuma muses.

"Agreed," Catra sighs. Maybe there's something to be said for that. She can't change what has happened in the past, but maybe she could focus on the good things. Because some good things did come out of it. Like Adora, and her and Adora together. And her new friends. Her new home.

“Hey Perfuma?”

“Hmm?” The princess seems lost in thought herself.

“Thanks.. For this. I think it helped.”

Perfuma grins, “Anytime, kitty cat.”

Catra snorts, “Okay never call me that again.” She pushes herself to her feet and stretches one last time. Perfuma chuckles at her own joke.

“Where are you going?” Catra notices that her eyes are beginning to droop, similarly to how her own feel like they are doing.

“Gotta go save the universe,” Catra points her thumb over her shoulder and winks. Now it’s her turn to laugh at her own joke.

“Ahhh young love,” Perfuma sighs, and then waves her hands in a shooing motion. “Go, have fun with your love! Save us from utter destruction!”

As Catra goes to walk through Perfuma’s room to head back towards her own, she hears the princess call out to her, “We’ll try meditation again another time!”

Catra rolls her eyes, but throws a thumbs up behind her anyways. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Perfuma doesn't need a grinder for the weed because ~magic~
> 
> Leave me a comment to let me know what you thought!
> 
> Come say hi to me at my spop tumblr --> traumatizedcatgirlgf


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